Hair analysis screening procedures

Opinions have been expressed that microscopic examination of hairs should be regarded as a presumptive step to act as a screening procedure prior to mtDNA analysis. However, many reports also emphasize the importance of the combination of the two approaches because the contribution the microscopic comparison can make. The microscopic examination gives an independent comparison of different characteristics. The analysis of mtDNA remains an expensive procedure, and not all hair specimens yield a usable result. Microscopic examination can eliminate obvious mismatches such as many nonhuman hairs, it can be used on fragments... 

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